Judge Tosses Fifth Third Stock-Drop Suit

Senior U.S. District Judge Sandra S. Beckwith of the U.S. District
Court for the Southern District of Ohio said the defendants were
entitled to a presumption of prudence typically applied in stock-drop
cases.

Beckwith asserted that despite the bank stock’s nearly 75% drop caused by the company’s involvement in subprime mortgage lending, it
remained an ongoing financial concern of the bank’s. The employees argued in the 2008 suit that the bank violated the Employee Retirement Income
Security Act (ERISA) by keeping the company stock in the plan after it
was no longer prudent to do so.

In arguing the company remained a viable enterprise despite
being hurt by the subprime mortgage meltdown, Beckwith pointed out that
Fifth Third’s participation in the federal Capital Purchase Program
(CPP) helped demonstrate that the company was a viable financial
institution.

The Treasury Department only allowed financial institutions to
participate in the CPP if they were healthy, viable financial
institutions, the court noted.